Tip-off: Wednesday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -11.5

The Clippers will be going for their fifth straight victory when they host the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

The Timberwolves are playing extremely poorly as of late and they hit rock bottom on Tuesday night, losing 119-115 as a four-point road favorite against the Lakers. The Lakers were on a 10-game losing streak heading into that game and Minnesota will now be looking to end its own losing streak on Wednesday. The team is, however, facing a Clippers team that has won four straight games and 16 of its past 19. Los Angeles has been on a tear and the team is covering as well, going 13-6 ATS over the past 19 games. These two teams have met twice this season and the Clippers are 2-0 SU but just 0-1-1 ATS. They will be feeling extremely confident coming into this one too, as they are 9-0 SU against the Timberwolves over the past three seasons. Minnesota has not defeated the Clippers at the Staples Center since Feb. 28, 2012. The Clippers are 7-0 SU at home against the Timberwolves since then, but Minnesota is a solid 4-3 ATS in those games. One thing favoring the Timberwolves heading into Wednesday is that the team is 13-5 ATS in road games revenging a loss versus an opponent this season. The Clippers, however, are 39-23 ATS after two straight games with 10 or less offensive rebounds over the past two seasons. C Nikola Pekovic (Foot) is questionable for Minnesota in this game and PF Blake Griffin (Hand) remains out indefinitely for Los Angeles.

The Timberwolves have really disappointed this season, but the future is still bright for this team and it’s important that their young players learn how to win some tough games in the second half of the season. Both SF Andrew Wiggins (20.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG) and C Karl-Anthony Towns (16.5 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 1.8 BPG) have enjoyed plenty of individual success this season, but it has not translated into wins for Minnesota. The hope is that the two of them will put it together soon. Wiggins was fantastic against the Lakers on Tuesday night, scoring 30 points on 13-for-20 shooting from the field. He will need to be at his best on Wednesday in order for this team to break out of its slump, but he is averaging just 14.5 PPG on 33.3% shooting from the field in two meetings with the Clippers this season. Minnesota needs him to be more efficient than that in this one. Towns, meanwhile, is averaging 17.5 PPG on 68.2% shooting in two games versus the Clippers on the year. He is capable of beating them around the basket and also with his jumper, and he should be able to dominate with Griffin off the court.

The Clippers are one of the hottest teams in basketball and now have a chance to pick up another victory against an awful Timberwolves team. PG Chris Paul (18.8 PPG, 9.5 APG, 2.1 SPG) has been excellent recently, averaging 21.2 PPG, 8.4 APG, 3.2 RPG, 2.0 SPG over the past five games. He should have no trouble picking apart a Minnesota group that is not very cohesive defensively. SG J.J. Redick (16.3 PPG) is another guy that could very well go off against Minnesota on Wednesday. Redick will be feeling confident coming into this one, as he went 7-for-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from three on his way to scoring 21 points in a win over the Bulls on Sunday. Paul knows where to find Redick on the floor and he should be able to shoot the lights out on Wednesday. As usual, the Clippers will need C DeAndre Jordan (11.9 PPG, 13.8 RPG, 2.2 BPG) to be a force on the defensive end. Jordan will see a lot of time covering Towns in this one and he can’t allow the rookie to get it going from the field. It would also be a huge plus if Jordan can continue to knock down his free throws at an admirable clip. He went 5-for-8 from the line against Chicago on Sunday and doing that will mean that the opposing team likely won’t use the “Hack-A-Shaq” strategy against him.